Nirvighnam kurumedeva shubha karyeshu sarvada.
O lord with the twisted trunk, with the effulgence of a billion suns,
Always remove the obstacles when I am on an auspicious undertaking
Welcome to the magnum opus of Vedic astrology. Various texts attribute the origin of Indian astrology to various gods and Rishis. It is futile to ascertain who was the originator. The most popularly followed astrological classics today are the ones written by Rishis like Parashara, Varahamihira, Garga, Jaimini and their followers. The credit for systematically explaining the entire theory of Hindu predictive astrology goes to Rishi Parashara, in his magnum opus Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra.
According to one theory, Brahma taught the Vedas and Jyotisha to his son Narada. Narada in turn taught these to Rishi Saunaka. Parashara was the disciple of Rishi Saunaka. The Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra is in the form of dialogs between Rishi Parashara and his disciple Maitreya who asks questions and Parashara explain the principles. Even after 5000 years it is still the best classic on astrology!! The rest of the astrology classics are based on this immortal work. Hence it is always advisable and appropriate to start the learning of astrology with this great classic.
It is difficult to be accurate about the period of Parashara but according to popular belief he belonged to the Mahahabharata period which is estimated to be 3200 BC approximately.
Before starting the study of these chapters it will be advisable to go through the Introduction to Indian Astrology and the 10 basic lessons given in this site, so that you’ll get a birds eye view of Vedic Astrology.
To read introduction and the 10 basic lessons >>
click here
Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra page1>>click here
